Poison Oak Fun Facts

On my trail ride the other day, I could see the Poison Oak encroaching the trail and it made me think about all the times I have had it and bad enough for one time the hospital taking pictures for “training purposes”. I thought it would be good to share some Poison Oak fun facts for #30daysofbiking.

Some fun facts about Poison Oak’s “active ingredient” know as Urushio Oil:
* Only 1 nanogram (billionth of a gram) needed to cause rash
* Average is 100 nanograms for most people
* 1/4 ounce of Urushiol is all that is needed to cause a rash in every person on earth
* 500 people could itch from the amount covering the head of a pin
* 1 to 5 years is normal for Urushiol oil to stay active on any surface including dead plants
* Derived from urushi, Japanese name for lacquer
* The Cashew shell has a type of Urushiol oil in it

As fun as that was, I will stick to my regimen of Technu. Which to make this post even more exciting, a fun fact on Technu.

Technu was originally created to clean Nuclear fallout dust off the body and clothes during the Cold War, it was forgotten about after the Cuban Missle Crisis, later which the chemical engineer’s wife somehow figured out that it worked great at removing the residual Urushio Oil (Poison Oak, Ivy, and Sumac). Fun things you read while waiting in line to buy a bottle of this miracle cleaner.